34 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 315 



Storage Tests of Cranberries. (H. F. Bergman and W. E. Truran.) The 

 loss of berries from all plots which had been sprayed twice during the season, 

 either with Bordeaux or with a mercurial spray, was only one-fourth to one-half 

 that of berries from unsprayed plots up to December 1 to 15. Thereafter the 

 difference in the amount of loss in berries from sprayed and unsprayed plots dim- 

 inished due to the extensive development of late storage rots which had not been 

 controlled by the two applications of spray. The amount of loss due to fungous 

 rots in berries from plots which had been sprayed only once was not as great as 

 that in berries from unsprayed plots but was greater than that in berries from 

 plots sprayed twice. 



An experiment to test the usefulness of a commercial preparation sold under 

 the name of "Trioxo PH42"as a preventive of storage rots was also carried out. 

 It is claimed by the manufacturers of this product that if cranberries are exposed 

 to the gas liberated from it (formaldehyde) for 48 hours in a confined space, loss 

 due to rots in storage will be prevented. Tests were made on 54 boxes of Early 

 Blacks from the State Bog, of which 27 were treated with "Trioxo" as directed 

 and the other 27 held as controls. After the treatment it was observed that many 

 of the berries in the treated lot were injured. An examination of berries taken 

 from the top and bottom of each of four boxes of the treated lot showed that the 

 percentage of gas-injured berries at the top of three boxes varied from 20.0 to 

 23.4 percent, in the other box it was 11.1 percent; the injured berries at the 

 bottom of the boxes varied from 0.5 to 2.0 percent. As a result of identification 

 of fungi isolated in cultures made from 50 rotten berries from the treated lot and 

 from 50 berries picked out from the controls, it was found that no difference 

 existed either as to the kind or number of fungi present in berries of the treated 

 and untreated lots. The berries were allowed to stand until December 19, when 

 the final examination was made. The percentage of rotten berries in the treated 

 lot varied from 16.7 to 27.7 with an average of 20.5; in the controls from 9.8 to 

 20.3 with an average of 14.6. In the treated lot the greatest amount of spoilage 

 usually occurred in berries at the top of boxes, amounting to 25.0 to 45.0 percent. 

 This was probably due mostly to the greater amount of gas injury as a result of 

 higher gas concentration at these places. 



Studies on Production and Dispersal of Spores of Fungi Causing Fruit Rots 

 of Cranberries. (H. F. Bergman and M. S. Wilcox.) These studies have been 

 carried on to secure information as to the probable time and method of infection 

 of cranberries by rot-producing fungi in relation to the control of rots by spraying 

 or other methods. The results are as follows. All the rot-producing fungi have 

 been isolated from cranberry flower buds in all stages of development, even those 

 much preceding the stage at which the first application of spray is made. The 

 percentage of infected buds is greatly increased following a June reflow, and the 

 increase is greater on unsprayed plots than on sprayed. The same fungi have 

 been isolated from berries from the very earliest stages up to maturity. Differences 

 in the percentage of infection of flower buds and of green fruits due to a particular 

 fungus have been observed on different bogs and even on different plots on the 

 same bog. The percentage of infected buds or green fruits is promptly reduced 

 following an application of spray. 





